Cryptocurrency becomes legal property in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
On 2 December 2025, the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act received royal assent, meaning cryptocurrencies and stablecoins have officially been recognised as legal property under English law. Until now, common law had often treated digital tokens as property, but only through scattered judgments. This legislative change not only clarifies the legal status of these assets […]
November compliance news round-up
What’s in this update? UK regulators intensify enforcement on harassment, mental health, bribery, and money laundering, highlighting gaps in employer preparedness. EU AML and GDPR updates tighten compliance requirements, with new rules impacting UK firms operating in the bloc. US regulators increase scrutiny on privacy, fraud, and sanctions, with new CCPA obligations and expanded data […]
More FCA naming and shaming? What the High Court’s ruling in CIT v FCA means for business
In a landmark ruling on 23 October 2025, the High Court dismissed the first judicial review challenge to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) discretion to publicly announce investigations, including naming firms under investigation. The case, CIT v Financial Conduct Authority (No. 1) [2025] EWHC 2614 (Admin), offers significant insights into how the FCA applies its […]
The CMA’s new enforcement era: What UK compliance teams need to know
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has entered a new phase of consumer protection enforcement. On 18 November, it used the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 for the first time to launch direct consumer law enforcement against eight major companies. At the same time, it issued advisory letters to one hundred businesses across […]
What’s new in Astute LXP – November 2025 update (v3.4.5)
This month’s release is a smaller one, but it brings meaningful improvements aimed at making everyday administration clearer, safer, and more predictable. We’ve made an important enhancement to enrolment rules, improved re-enrolment speeds, and fixed several issues across videos, certificates, emails and reporting. These updates are designed to reduce confusion, prevent mistakes, and give […]
Global election tracker 2026: What compliance teams should be watching
From Asia-Pacific to the Americas and Europe, several major economies will choose new governments or renew fragile coalitions throughout 2026. For compliance professionals, elections shape the regulatory climate organisations must operate in for years afterwards. A change in government frequently means a shift in enforcement appetite, supervisory expectations, budget priorities, sanctions policy, labour protections, ESG […]
New California Consumer Privacy Act rules from 1 January 2026: What you need to know about CCPA 2026
On 23 September 2025, the California Privacy Protection Agency quietly did something that will reshape privacy governance across the United States for years to come. The state’s Office of Administrative Law approved an extensive package of regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), updating existing rules and introducing entirely new regimes for cybersecurity audits, […]
Inside the Atlanta Hawks fraud: How one executive exposed the cost of complacency
When basketball team Atlanta Hawks hired Lester T. Jones Jr. in 2016 as Director of Financial Planning & Analysis, it looked like a smart move. A promising finance professional joining a high-profile NBA organisation. But by 2025, that promising career had become a federal case. Jones rose through the ranks to become Senior Vice President […]
Canada’s new financial crimes agency: a national crackdown on fraud and economic abuse
Canada is preparing to overhaul its approach to financial crime. Budget 2025 unveils the country’s first-ever National Anti-Fraud Strategy: a whole-of-government initiative aimed at curbing the surge in scams, money laundering and consumer-targeted fraud that has plagued the country in recent years. The scale of the problem is alarming. In 2024 alone, Canadians lost […]
Inside BaFin’s 2025 enforcement drive: From Deutsche Bank to J.P. Morgan
Germany’s financial regulator, BaFin, has rarely been so visible. In 2025, the watchdog imposed some of its largest fines to date — not just for failures in anti-money-laundering controls, but for broader organisational and governance breaches that go to the heart of what “effective compliance” means. The year was bookended by two headline actions: a […]